Metal foundation grate



Ot- 19, 1954 F. B. DI cAsTELBlANc 2,692,030

METAL FOUNDATION GRATE Filed June 30, 1950 Patented Oct. 19, 1954 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE METAL FOUNDATION GRATE Franco Bianchi diCastelbianco, Milan, Italy Application June 30, 1950, Serial No. 171,437

Claims priority, application Italy April 15, 1950 4 claims. (ci. 18e-21) The object of this invention is a metal tower foundationarrangement.

The metal foundation grate according to the invention is characterizedby the fact that the under face of the grate is flat and devoid of anyprojections towards the bottom of the foundation pit, so as to have thegrate resting on the pit bottom in the most suitable way, in order toobtain a uniform speciiic pressure.

rihis advantageous feature is obtained by buildup the grate from two ormore spaced longitudinal bars provided with slots for receiving andsupporting a niunber of cross bars, running perpendicularly to the twolongitudinal bars, the said slots corresponding to the cross-sectionshape of the cross bars and having their lower side paraliel to thehorizontal edges of the longitudinal bars.

rEhe cross bars are freely slidable in the Slots, avoiding theemployment of joining bolts or wel-ded spots, so as to make the gratehighly inexpensive to manufacture and unaffected by ground corrosion,which attacks small structural pieces. The component elements of thegrate according to the invention are fully standardized, the mounting ofthe grate is every easy and quick and the grate is made adaptable toirregular foundation pits.

Two of the cross bars have suitably spaced notches formed therein forreceiving the lower ends of the support uprights and for spacing thelongitudinal bars of the grate, these latter being iixed to the ends ofthe uprights.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to theattached drawing, showing as an illustrative example only, an embodimentof the new foundation arrangement.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a tower foundation according to the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view on line 2--2 in Fig. l and Fig. 3 is afragmentary sectional View on line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the tower foundation comprises a rigidvertically extending supporting structure including four uprights 4i.The ends of the uprights t are nxedly secured by rivets 4a to twoparallel substantially horizontal longitudinally extending spaced barsI. Each of the bars I has a vertical web or wall portion I' which isformed with longitudinally spaced openings 2. The openings 2 may haverectangular, triangular or L-shaped form, but in any event have astraight lower edge 2a extending substantially horizontal and parallelto the bottom edge ia of the bars l. A plurality of cross bars 3 arearranged in corresponding and aligned openings 2 in the two bars I withtheir horizontally extending walls 3 supported on the edges 2a. Two ofthe cross bars, namely the bars 3ra are formed with slots 5 whichreceive a web portion of the uprights A so that the transverselyextending parallel bars 3a are iixedly secured to the longitudinal barsl and hold the same permanently in parallel and spaced position.

The angle bars 4, the bars l, and the xed cross bars 3a, provide a rigidstructure, while the cross bars 3 are slidable in the openings 2 and canbe shifted into positions conforming to an irregular shape ci the pit inwhich the tower foundation is placed. The horizontal walls 3 of thetransversely extending cross bars 3 are adapted to be supported by thebottom of the pit. The cross bars 3 may be made from bent sheet metal.

The invention is not intended to be limited to the details of theillustrated embodiment, since various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present invention.

What I claim is:

l. In a tower foundation arrangement to be placed in a pit and includingfour uprights, and two parallel substantially horizontal longitudinallyextending spaced bars, each of said longitudinally extending barssecured to the spaced lower ends of two of said uprights so that saidlower ends of said uprights are arranged in a rectangle, in combination,two vertical wall portions, one on each of said two horizontallongitudinally extending bars, each of said vertical wall portionsformed with longitudinally spaced openings having a straight lower edgeextending substantially horizontal, each opening in each of saidvertical wall portions being transversely aligned with a correspondingopening in the other of said vertical wall portions; two parallelsubstantially horizontal transversally extending spaced bars secured atspaced points to said two parallel substantialiy horizontallongitudinally extending spaced bars so as to hold the same permanentlyin parallel spaced position and a plurality of transversely extendingcross-bars loosely passing through aligned corresponding openings insaid two longitudinally extending vertical wall portions shiftable in atransverse direction, each cross bar having a horizontally extendingwall supported by the straight lower horizontal edges of twocorresponding openings and adapted to be supported by a substantialhorizontal surface on the bottom of a pit, said cross-bars being adaptedto be individually transversely shifted to a position conforming withthe irregularities of the walls of the pit.

ends of two of said uprights so that said lower endsl of said uprightsare arranged in a rectangle, in combination, two vertical wall portions,one on each of said two horizontal longitudinally extending bars, eachof said vertical Wall portions formed with longitudinally spacedopeningsA havingl a straight lower edge extending substantiallyhorizontal, each opening in each of said vertical wall portions beingtransversely aligned with a corresponding opening in the other of saidvertical wall portions; and a plurality of transversely extendingcross-bars passing through aligned corresponding openings in said twolongitudinally extending Vertical wal1 portions, each cross-bar having ahorizontally extending wall supported by the straight lower horizontaledges of two corresponding openings and adapted to be supported by asubstantial horizontal surface on the bottom of a pit, two of saidcross-bars extending in the region of the lower ends of said uprights,each of said two cross-bars being formed with two spaced slots, each ofsaid slots located adjacent to the vertical wall portion of one of saidlongitudinally extending bars, each of said slots receiving a portion ofthe lower end of one of said uprights for permanently spacing saiduprights and said longitudinally extending two bars, the others of saidcross-bars being individually transversely shiftable in said openings toa position conforming with the irregularities of the walls of the pit.

3. A tower foundation arrangement comprising, in combination, a rigidvertically extending supporting structure; at least two spacedlongitudinally extending substantially horizontal parallel bars rmlysecured to the bottom end of said vertical supporting structure andformed with longitudinally spaced openings, each opening in each of saidbars being transversally aligned with the corresponding opening with theother of said 4 bars; at least two spaced transversally extending barssecured at spaced points to said rigid vertical supporting structure soas to hold said spaced longitudinally extending substantially horizontalparallel bars permanently in fixed spaced position; and a plurality oftransversely extending cross-bars loosely passing through alignedcorresponding openings in said two longitudinally extending barsshiftable in a transversal direction. 4. A tower foundation arrangementcomprising, in combination, a rigid vertically extending supportingstructure; at least two spaced longitudinally extending substantiallyhorizontal parallel bars rmly secured to the bottom end of said verticalsupporting structure and formed with longitudinally spaced openingshaving each a straight lower edge extending substantially parallel tosaid bar so as to be substantially horizontal when said longitudinallyextending bars are horizontally supported, each opening in each of saidbars being transversally aligned with the corresponding opening with theother of said bars; at least two spaced transversally extending barssecured at spaced points to said rigid vertical supporting structure soas tohold said spaced longitudinally extending substantially horizontalparallel bars permanently in fixed spaced position; and a plurality oftransversely extending cross-bars loosely passing through alignedcorresponding openings in said two longitudinally extending barsshiftable in transversal direction, each cross-bar having at least onestraight face opposite said straight lower edges of the openings throughwhich it is passing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,013,064 Rogers Dec. 26, 1911 1,132,021 Mark et al. 1 Mar.16, 1915 1,428,230 Hess 1 Sept. 5, 1922 1,796,720 Porter Mar. 17, 19311,890,271 Umbricht Dec. 6, 1932

